CHACO FAIRY ARMADILLO Calyptophractus ... - FAUNA Paraguay

Smith P - Calyptophractus retusus - FAUNA Paraguay Handbook of the Mammals of Paraguay Number 20 2008
CONSERVATION STATUS: Globally considered Data Deficient by the IUCN (Abba & Superina
2010), see http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/details.php/4703/all for the latest assessment of the
species. The Centro de Datos de Conservación in Paraguay consider the species to be endangered in
Paraguay and give it the code N2. Though little is known of its biology it is clearly locally distributed and a
population decline in the range of 10-25% in the last 10 years is not unthinkable (Abba & Superina 2010).
Merritt (2008) did not encounter the species in the Central Chaco area during more than 20 years of
periodic fieldwork.
This is a Chaco endemic species and though widespread in Bolivia and Paraguay it is locally
distributed and occurs only in areas with loose sandy soils. It may also occur in sandy soil areas of the
Pantanal in Paraguay and Brazil, though to date it has not been recorded there. Considered an animal of
ill-omen, it is killed by humans when encountered and such pressure on a rare species is likely to have
telling effects on the population. Though it thrives in secondary habitats it would seem that the population
is in decline, though no data is available to support the assumption. Conversion of appropriate habitat to
pasture may affect the species but fortunately in Paraguay much of the range of the species is at least
nominally protected in the various national parks of the Chaco region. However it should be noted that
these parks are protected more by their isolation than by an effective conservation plan. (Edentate
Specialist Group 2004).
REFERENCES:
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en Bolivia - Kempffiana 1: p58-62.
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Gran Chaco - Edentata 4: p14-15.
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FAN, Santa Cruz.
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Ixodidae) - Experimental and Applied Acarolgy 29: p131-139.
Merritt D 2008 - Xenarthrans of the Paraguayan Chaco p294-299 in Vizcaino SF, Loughry WJ The Biology
of the Xenarthra - University Press of Florida.
Möller-Krull M, Delsuc F, Churakov G, Marker C, Superina M, Brosius J, Douzery EJP, Schmitz J
2007 - Retroposed Elements and Their Flanking Regions Resolve the Evolutionary History of Xenarthran
Mammals (Armadillos, Anteaters and Sloths) - Molecular Biology and Evolution 24: p2573-2582.
Myers P, Espinosa R, Parr CS, Jones T, Hammond GS, Dewey A 2006 - The Animal Diversity Web
(online). Accessed December 2007.
Neris N, Colman F, Ovelar E, Sukigara N, Ishii N 2002 - Guía de Mamíferos Medianos y Grandes
del Paraguay: Distribución, Tendencia Poblacional y Utilización - SEAM, Asunción.
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Vizcaíno SF, Milne N 2002 - Structure and Function in Armadillo Limbs (Mammalia: Xenarthran:
Dasypodidae) - Journal of Zoological Society of London 257: p117-127.
Smith P 2008 - CHACO FAIRY ARMADILLO Calyptophractus retusus - Mammals of Paraguay Nº 20
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